Saturday 9: American Authors; "Best Day of My Life"

  

Want to join the meme?  Go HERE

Saturday 9: Best Day of My Life (2013)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins by mentioning clouds. Do you see clouds in the sky this fine Saturday?
Yes, I did see them, before it got dark.  But that was Friday night, when I'm answering the question.  So, I hope it still counts.  They will be there tomorrow night, too.  May and June we suffer from June Gloom.  Something I actually like about the weather in San Diego.  It keeps the temperature down in the "you can live in this" range.

2) Lead singer Zac Barnett sings that, "Everything is looking up." What are you looking forward to today?

Going to bed and reading my newest book.  It came a few days ago all the way from Switzerland.  Canyoubelieveit?! 

 I'm also in a rush to finish a library book called, The Help. So Fine!  

3) 2016 is not yet half over, but what's been your best day so far this year?
It would have to be sometime in January.  After that, the year's been pretty much sandblasted.

4) The members of the group, American Authors, met in college. When is the last time you heard from a school chum? Do you know them from grammar school, high school or college?
My red haired room mate from Uni and her husband came down and we went around the town looking at this and that, and stopped off to eat some delicious fish and chips.  I'll always remember her as being one of the kindest people I've ever known.  She passed away 10 years ago. 

She and her sister and I climbed a freeway fence and ran through an underpass at midnight in East L.A. after running out of gas on the I-10 back to their parent's house.  We were rescued by the Highway Patrol.  I told that story before, but I just thought it would be nice to tell it again.  I think the world of the California Highway Patrol.  

5) One of the all-time best-selling American authors is romance writer Danielle Steele. She's been writing for more than 40 years and has sold more than 800 million books. Have you read any of her work?
Years ago, someone gave me about 15 of her books, all hardbacks.  I don't regret so much not reading more than five pages from the first, as much as in not keeping them as first editions to sell later!  I regret that I have nothing but hindsight!  
  
6) Have you ever dreamed of being an author?
There have been times when I have actually written a newsletter to my friend D about rats who formed a society on Mars or the Moon- right now I can't remember which it was.  It was fun and that's when I knew I could write if I wanted to.  It was loads of fun! Brilliant fun!

7) Do you have an e-reader?
Yes.  It's kept the house from tipping over and skidding down hill.

8) American Authors rang in 2016 in Chicago, giving an outdoor concert on New Year's Eve on a stage not far from Lake Michigan. There are 5 Great Lakes in all,including Lake Michigan. Without looking it up, name the other 4. 
Huron, Erie, Superior and Ontario.  Yep, I do the crossword puzzles.

9) Random question: You see photos on Facebook of a dinner party hosted by a friend. You recognize most of the attendees, yet you weren't invited. How do you feel? Left out and angry? Do you wonder what you may have done to offend your friend? Or do you just forget about it and move on?
Well, I, personally, don't have a facebook account, and so I'd never know.  So, none of the above, or rather, none of the above except for moving on, which is what I'm going to do right after this word from my sponsor.......

Amphibians are never out of trouble for very long.

Too cute to lose forever!

We'd better save these precious, little bebés in the woods and waterways before it's too late.  They are an important link in the Circle of Life.

Learn more at the Environmental Defense Fund's "Amphibian and Reptiles Extinction Crisis" SITE

One selfish way to look at this is that we all drink the water they need to live in..... just sayin'

A haha for a very smart lady....Hertha Marks Ayrton

FROM HERE

Google, ya just gotta love em sometimes.  To Google, with love and ♥♥♥s and all the other googlygook


Read about Hertha HERE at the London Telegraph.   Today is her 162nd birthday.

Happy Birthday, Dear Hertha!  Happy Birthday to you.

Last Friday's friday5, only on Thursday

Want to join up?  Go HERE




Tomorrow is the generally assumed birthday of William Shakespeare, based on records of his baptism and the traditions of the time.  We celebrated the Bard’s birthday last year and six years ago, so if you find these questions less than satisfying, try those instead.  Links in the questions go to attributions in Barlett’s Familiar Quotations*.  Shout-out to Kimberly, who six years ago answered her questions in (rhymed!) iambic pentameter.

1, If brevity is the soul of wit, how witty are you?
I'm very good at one liners.  So are my Bro, Sister, Mr. Z, and our kids.  We can, at times, have a very merry time of it.

2. When did you last play fast and loose with the truth?
Probably when I was a teen trying to save someone from my paternal unit's wrath.  Usually it was a pet he meant to kill.  He loved killing pets.

3. When did the green-eyed monster last rear its head?
I'm jealous of talented artists who make a living by it.  So, that thing has always got it's head up to me, showing all it's teeth.  I could have put the kids through college.

4. What has often required you to screw your courage to the sticking place?
Lately it's been, shall we say, every waking  minute of every day.

5. What’s a custom that you have found more honor’d in the breach than the observance? **
Public Drunkenness/ carousing.  Custom being what it was in the old days, and sometimes in the "new", I'll follow Hamlet on this as well. 

I suppose this "custom" hasn't changed much, in view of how generally acceptable weekend public drunkenness is observed (with mild benignity) in the world as well as celebrated both in film and on television.  

Thank you for participating, and may your weekend be as merry as the day is long!

* For those disinclined to link-clicking (I don’t blame you!): Hamlet, Love’s Labor’s Lost, Othello, Macbeth, and Hamlet (questions 1 through 5 in that order).  Shout-out to Disney’s Beauty and the Beast on question 4!

** This phrase is often misused, according to this enlightening piece in the NYT.  Hamlet was saying that it was more honorable to breach (that is, violate) the local custom of carousing than to follow it.  It’s usually used to mean “more often broken than followed” or something like that.  Answer the question whichever way works for you, but I like Hamlet’s meaning.

Wordless Wednesday..Shhhhh

Tuesday Tails, Heart warming, this....about a tiny penguin who keeps coming back "home"...

Pina sent this to me, and I think all our hearts need a little lifting, so here are the links.

Enjoy this wonderful, true story!

One good story deserves another teller....

I think they both deserve a look in.

Music Monday: Allman Brothers, "Blue Sky"

One of the Happier Rockin' Songs...



You can hear some of their classic riffs float through now and then,too.  Enjoy it.  Dance a little....

And just how are we today? Funny you should ask.... Sunday Stealing

April 23, 2016

Ask Questions, Yo

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.  

Cheers to all of us thieves!!! 

 And, Join in the fun, HERE!

Ask Questions, Yo Meme

Stolen from: i take surveys


1. Are you a very open or private person?
I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, if that's what is meant by closed.  But I have an open heart.

2. Change one thing about the world what would it be?
Humans would no longer wage war, including covert or economic war.  That sort of creepy Guile no longer, if it ever did, serves us well.

3. Live in any country/city, where would you choose?
I'd live in Northern California in a town called Arcata.  I want to go North.  I've gone as far West as can be done, Mr. John Babsone Lane Soule.

4. What perfume do you wear?
I don't wear it.  I value my hearing,balance and sanity too much.  *scratches her whole head*

5. How are you feeling right now?
My compass needle is pointing North, and is no longer wildly swinging.  I am relatively calm.

6. If money was no object, where would you move to?
Scott's Valley for Starters.  I'd buy three craftsman style houses there.

7. Who was the last person to make you cry?
People don't make me cry.  That's the job of the "Fickle Finger of Fate.  

8. What age do people usually mistake you for?
I look my age.  But truthfully,  I'm a hulluva lot older than that, my good man, or is it, woman? 
*peers sharply through her lorgnette*

9. Is there a song which can bring you to tears instantly?
"Stairway to Heaven".  It always has and always will.  It's really a thing of beauty.



10. Do you play video games?
No, not unless you include a MMOG.  Do you?  If so, then, the answer is, "yes".

11. What do you think about before you go to bed?
Both the mysteries of Life, and whether the dog got to go out already.  And do I really have to brush my stupid teeth?

12. Have you ever online dated?
Nope.  

13. Do you get cranky when you’re hungry?
No, but I really do want to eat, and right away.  Do not get between me and that fruit bowl.

14. What drink did you last consume?
That would be good old water, and at dinner also.  I'd love to fall off the wagon but its moving at warp speed and I've heard it's a long way down from here.  Rock bottom is what it"s called, and, There be Dragons!

15. Have you ever tripped while walking up the stairs?
This is a little like a life insurance company questionnaire, isn't it?  And yes, I stepped on my long skirts, not being used to going up grande staircases with it on.  I learned right away why woman in movies always hiked up their skirts on the way up ballroom stairs.

16. Is there something you’re happy about at the moment?
Not really.  Unless some big, BAD thing failed to happen somewhere or other in the world - you know, like a nuclear meltdown stopped in time, that sort of big BAD.

17. Are you a shy person?
Though better at bold moves at parties, press conferences, and clubs now,  I still am shy to a certain extent.  I'd be shy when meeting President Obama, but probably would have been arrested for slapping his predecessor.  

18. Were you happy when you woke up today?
No, not that I remember, anyway.    

19. Do you like rain?
I'm a Californian so I love rain.  I adore rain!

20. Can you go a day without music?
Apparently not, as there is always music in my head.  It's mostly not as bawdy as liking "Stairway to Heaven" might make it seem, though.  It's Old Timey, toe tapping stuff.

Good night all you kids.  Have a nice Sunday week.  Blessings!

a Prince.... Saturday 9

Little Red Corvette

Welcome to Saturday: 9. We love Memes!  COME ON OVER and join in the fun....

Saturday 9: Little Red Corvette

From the archives.  In memory of Prince (1958-2016) 

1) The subject of this song is frankly sexual. Do you blush easily?
Not any more.

2) Prince was his real first name (Prince Rogers, to be exact). Growing up, his relatives called him "Skipper." Do you have any nicknames within your family?
Yes, my Bro calls me, Linnie Pooh.  He calls my sister Cessie Pooh, which he used to say was really pronounced Cessie Pool.  He was, to us, just good old, "Piggie in the Middle".

3) Prince said he was "obsessed" with Mozart and read whatever he can find about the composer. What's the last book you read?
I just read The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes.  An excellent book if you want to read it.  It's first person narrative and told by an Autistic boy.  Lovely Book! :-)  

4) Between Prince and The Beach Boys, the Corvette is a much sung-about car. Tell us about your vehicle. 
I have a Jeep, which suits us both just fine.  But, of course, almost every red blooded American kid coming of age in the late 50's and early 60's. wanted a 'Vette.  I was not an exception.  Here's my favorite Corvette....Image is from THIS web page  and there are LOTS more to ogle if you are so inclined.


5) In the 1980s, when Prince was popular, MTV could turn a song into a hit. In 2016, where do you hear new music?
On the sound tracks of movies and shows, from kindly net friends, and sometimes here.

6) In 1982, when "Little Red Corvette" ruled the airwaves, Braniff Airways shocked the travel industry and threw passengers into chaos by declaring bankruptcy. When did you last fly? Did your trip go smoothly? 
My last flight was down from San Jose in a commuter turboprop.  I was a little concerned by the black puffs of smoke that came out of the engines.

7) 1982 is also the year Disney opened Epcot. Have you ever been to a Disney park?
When I was 11 and it had just opened up in Anaheim.  Mother saved up to take the three of us.  I think she enjoyed it as much as we did.

8) 1982 is the year Cheers premiered. The sitcom was set in a bar where "everybody knows your name." Tell us about your favorite local bar or restaurant. 
One that I've been to more than once?  Ok.  Panda Inn at Horton Plaza.  I really liked their food.

9) The 1980s were considered a highpoint in professional tennis, with Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe dominating the sport. Do you play tennis?
Ivan Lendl was pretty darn good, too.  Anywho.... I played intramural tennis in high school (GAA) and also in college.  Mr. Z and I used to play regularly but then Life got busy, and  after that,  I got too sick.

Be Kind to the Earth, it's the only planet we have....

It's Earth Day today

Earth is a tiny ball of rotting rock, covered mostly by water.  We are lucky in that.  This Big Water gave people a way to get away from each other long enough to develop music, foods, Art and Styles of houses, clothing and shoes which they could eventually start to trade and share, along with Germs, of course.  There was a big negative there.  But, moving right along....

Earth is spinning around a medium sized star we call the Sun, and we are right out on the edge of the Universe.  If we don't take care of  Earth, it's a heck of a long way to go anywhere else.

Planet Earth,: Love it or Lose it.

Thankful Thursday: a night of lightning in the room

I'm very Grateful for some amazing vision like dreams and experiences of a spiritual nature especially when I was with two friends at my house, and at two other separate times.
These events may have been answers to questions I was asking at the time, and I've pondered them in my heart ever since we saw then in 1971.

One involved a friend and our two eldest daughters, late at night.  I never will probably understand why we had these phenomena revealed to us, but life is a continual search for meaning, is it not?.
Now with everything happening in weird ways again, I wonder if this is the time for things to be revealed.  Dear God, I hope so for our family's sake at least.  Help ,please because we all need to have the peace that comes with  you.

Wordless Wednesday: Sailing away

Music Monday: Allison Krauss sings Down to the River to Pray; Soggy Bottom Boys, "Man of Constant Sorrow"

This is such a beautiful song, a folk song from the times of slavery....




And this is just insanely good and FUN!




I really LOVE Old Timey Music.  This last is my grandmother's sort of music,  My grandmother was a McCoy, and this genre and ballads is her kind of music.  I think she stole my grandfather's heart with her singing.

It is a singing heritage that I didn't get to pass on to my daughters, but wish I had.  It just makes my heart dance whenever I hear this folk music from the Southern Mountains.  So many things got in the way...

My daughter plays this and Irish music on fiddle.  She plays the banjo as well.  So, that is great, too.  I think she's just too shy to sing.

Hope you enjoy these two tunes.  Tap your toes to the last.  Go out tapping your toes to the tunes.
Have a Happy week!

Sunday Stealing Comment prompts a reply about cancer rates and cures...

This is an article about what is going on in Europe,

LINK to Telegraph Article

Who is blocking these new lifesaving treatments, and why?  We should start asking questions,  BIG questions!

AH!  The love of Money, the root of all evil.  That's my diagnosis!

Sunday Stealing: 25 Large Meme

Sunday Stealing!  Cheers to all of us thieves!!!  Please go HERE to join in the fun!

April 16, 2016

25 Large Meme

Stolen from: i take surveys

1.Travel anywhere, where would it be?
Central California, mostly to Big Sur and the Santa Cruz Mountains

2. Meet anyone, who would it be? 
In all History?  Jesus. 

3. Bring anyone dead back to life, who would it be? 
I can't do this one..

4. Be anyone for a day, who would it be? 
It would be the richest person on Earth, and I would give all his money to carefully selected charities, starting at midnight and going full bore.  Well I'd leave him a few million so his wife and children wouldn't be destitute.

5. Get anything for free for the rest of your life what would it be? 
Storage units maybe? Yes, definitely. Storage units.  I'd set up shop in one of them and sell it all off like the guy in the reality TV show.

6. Change one thing about your life what would it be? 
From the beginning, I would be a really, really good and jolly mother.

7. Have any superpower what would it be? 
I'd like to be invisible whenever I want to be.


8. Be any animal for a day which would you be? 
Just a day? Well, darn but ok....I'd be a cactus wren: perky and very very fun flyer who builds several tiny  night nests to stay warm during the desert's cold nights.

SOURCE

SOURCE is Pinterest

9. Date anyone who would it be? 
I'd love to meet up with Kwizgiver and have a discussion about schools, and knit,knit,knit.  But she'll be off with George, so that I guess it will not happen.

10. Change one thing about the world what would it be?
I would eliminate avarice from the human genome.

11. Live in any fictional universe which would you choose? 
You do realize that we all already live in a fictional Universe, right?

12. Eliminate one of your human needs which would you get rid of?
Needing to eat and drink.  What an amazing time saver, and the cancer rate would plummet.

13. Change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be?
I'd be thin enough to wear a size 8.

14. Change one of your personality traits which would you choose? 
I'd like to be more optimistic. heehee

15. Be talented at anything instantly what would you choose? 
OK that's easy.  I'd like to play the piano really well.

16.If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?
 Right now? That would be Noam Chomsky 

17. Erase an event from history (make it so it never happened) which would you choose? 
The eruption of Europeans across the Atlantic, and it's consequences,i.e., the invasion and slaughter of whole nations full of other people for their stuff.

18. Have any hair/eye/skin color, which would you choose? 
My coloring made me myself.  I like what I have had.  

19. Be any weight/body type, which would you choose? 
I like my body type, just not quite so wide as it is now. ;-)

20. Live in any country/city, where would you choose? 
I want to live in Santa Barbara, or even King City..

21. Change one law in your country, which would you change? 

That a corporation is treated, under the law, as a person.  It's just so very,very wrong.

22. Be any height, which would you choose? 
I'd like to be 5'6" again.

23. Have any job in the world, which would you choose? 
I'd like to be one of the top ten, sponsored, internationally famous Surfers. 

24. Have anything appear in your pocket right now, what would it be?
The REAL cure to all cancers in the world. not the hack it out and poison the patient cure but the real one.  It's out there somwhere and it would fit into a matchbox if I don't miss my guess.

26. Have anyone beside you right now, who would it be?
Mr. Z.

Who's Beautiful? Saturday9, that's who!

Saturday 9: You're Beautiful (2005)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) The first line is of this song is, "My life is brilliant." Using one word, describe your life.
My life is Daily.

2)  This is about a chance encounter between strangers in a crowd, specifically the subway. What "crowded place" were you most recently in?  
I freaking live in an overcrowded Urban Plain that never stops but just stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Laguna Mountains.  If it's not choppers circling overhead, it's freeway noise, which is a constant "thrum" from 5am to 7pm.  I go outside to take photos of this amazing sunrise, and am assaulted by said "thrum" the instant the door is opened.  I love these amazing windows but I never open them!  That SOURCE link goes to a blog post titled, "Is that a Freeway in Your Back Yard?"

SOURCE

3) Near the very end of this song, James Blunt sings, "It's time to face the truth." Do you believe you face things head on? Or do you tend to deny or put off the unpleasant?
I'm a tough and raw life advocate.  My belief is that a person can't deny or put off some "freight train" bearing down on them, or they won't be able to jump out of the way.  What can be done is to work like hell on a defense,  do what must be done, and hope for the best.  I say, NEVER give up until it's time to lay down.  A person usually knows when that time is, too.  You'll know intuitively when that moment arrives. Anyway, that's the way I live it.

4) James Blunt went to an all-boys school. Some educators recommend single-sex classrooms because they maintain girls just naturally approach subjects like math and science differently than boys do. Do you agree?
No.  It's my experience that boys get a lot more attention in classrooms than girls.  Boys tend to be noisier and louder, and more disruptive.  And, I don't agree that girls approach math and science differently than do boys.  Girls are neither slower to "get it" nor are they slower to excel.  They do tend to not put themselves forward, which is sad and affects all the disciplines, not just Math and Science.

5) Blunt put his father in charge of his finances. Income taxes are top of mind for many of us this time of year. Do you do your own taxes? Or do you go to an accountant or tax preparation service?
I won't even tell E.F. Hutton things like that!

6)  In 2005, the year this song was a hit, the sitcom How I Met Your Mother was also popular.  Do you know how your parents met?
Yes.  And, do I wish they'd never met?  Yes.  Oh boy, "Back to the Future" dreamin'... 

7) 2005 is also the year Tom Cruise famously jumped on a sofa. Do you remember where he did this?
I didn't see it, but I hope that someone thought to get said sofa cleaned after he vented his "Girl of my Dreams" Life story on top of it.

8) 2005 was also the year YouTube really took off. What's the last video you watched?
The one I posted for Music Monday.

9) Random question ... Which of these high profile jobs would you enjoy more: head of General Motors, CEO of Apple or president of the New York Yankees?  The key word is ENJOY, and then  we get these three choices?  Why can't we have something really fun, like CEO of Lego, or Disney or something like that?  I'd say none of the above then.

Want to join in the fun here?  Go to THIS blog....

Friday5: The Middle, and knitted hat done.

Friday 5 for April 15: The Middle

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5!  Please copy these questions to your webspace.  Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses.  Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1.What’s something you’re in the middle of?
I'm in the middle of getting rid of things I'll never use again.  It's hard but there are lots, LOTS, harder things to be in the middle of.

2.What’s in the middle of you?
A parking garage full of steam punk beetles?   

Wouldn't it be cool  to have wings? 

The middle of me is a muddle.  Nothing's where it should be anymore.  But somehow it all still works, for which I'm grateful.  Working plumbing is totally underrated.  Be sure to thank God, or our lucky stars, for it.  Which ever....

3.What is your residence in the middle of?
A neighborhood within a city, a place I never in my wildest dreams thought I was destined to live out my artistic,  freestyle Life.  I'd never do it again.

4.What’s a great food that features something in its middle?
Grilled cheddar cheese tacos!  

5.What’s the nearest you’ve been to the middle of nowhere?
Eli, Nevada comes to mind.  But we've been further out than that.  It's fun and quiet way out t.here.  There is nothing like it - it's just you and the wind.   And the Universe of Stars and Galaxies 

Thanks for participating, and may your weekend be much better than fair-to-middling


And now for the knitting report:

The hat is finished.

Next project is to finish the Manly/Beastly.  Mr.Z. certainly deserves this wonderful sweater.  

Thankful Thursday

In the cleaning up of bits and pieces yesterday, I found this:

Wolfie was singularly unimpressed....

He whined to be petted after I kept saying to him, " See, there's your cousin,see?"

Then he just flipped over with a big sigh of resignation, and took a nap.

I'm grateful to see that the Arctic Wolf has been holding onto existence to this day.  It's still being argued about whether it is a separate species or is just a different color adaptation of the grey wolf, but it is still here.  Fur traders and others nearly slaughtered every single one, either by poison or bullets, during the late1800's and nearly up to the time this article was written in 1987.

After reading the article, I found the author's book, used, and bought it.  It will be arriving from the UK soon.  I'm thankful for the 7/24 nature of the web.

The only live wolf I've ever seen came running up to me in a slough when we were out bird watching. He wanted to be petted!

By the way, an iPad2 takes as good, almost, a picture as Apple's famous iPhone.  The Kindle, however, sucks at it!

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Music: Black Crowes, full concert at Newport, '08

I adore this band.  Obviously I could listen to them all day.... Concert is over an hour.  Get comfy, kick off the shoes..........

Sunday Stealing, Ask me, Ask me. Whatchawanna know? Meme

April 9, 2016

Ask, Ask, Ask Meme

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.

Cheers to all of us thieves!!!  

Ask Ask Ask Meme

Stolen from: i take surveys


1 -If you were stranded on an island, who do you wish to be with?
Well, that's simple enough.  I want my DH and his McGyver knife.  Barring that, I'll take a fisherwoman from New Guinea, with skills.

2 - What do you feel right now?
Crazy, I feel absolutely wacko.

3 - What chocolate is your favorite?
The dark kind

4 - Why did you create a blog account?
To share my knitting with the world.  Buhahahaha!  

5 - Who is your favorite blogger?
He's a criminal right now.

6 - When was the last time you cried? Why?
Crying's good for you.  So I do it every day.  

7 - Who is your best friend?
Mr. Z.

8 - What kind of music do you listen to?
Everything, except Rap.  It's not music to my ears.  I hate it, and feel like a trapped animal if it's on anywhere within 1875 feet of me.  Or, if I can hear it.

9 - Do you have troubles sleeping at night? 
Last night I went to sleep after 3 am.  But I got to sleep in to 8:30 so it was cool.  I usually sleep pretty well, with an occasional anomaly. 

10 - What do you prefer, jeans or shorts?
When?  Wet season or Dry, if it's 68 degrees out, I'm wearing fleece.

11 - Did you try to change for a person?
After being (with my little brothers - one of whom died from it) beaten into submission by a monster, I tried to change for my own kids.  The cracks in my persona are only held together by a thin layer of Elmer's glue.  But over the years because I wanted to be the person I was before it all went pear shaped, and for my family, those cracks are no longer visible.

12 - Are you in a good or bad mood? 
My mood-o-meter reads, "Feisty",  and a few degrees above "stormy seas".  I don't know if that's good or bad.  I suspect it is A-OK for this time of life.

13 - Name someone you can’t live without.
Mr. Z. and my daughters.

14 - Do you have a grudge against anyone? 
No, not anymore.  I may tell it like it is, but I hold no grudge.  I don't want another little child to suffer.  Karma, you know?

15 - Are you a crybaby?
Criminy.  I cry every day.  I'm an Environmentalist, and I can (and do) read.

16 - When people praise you for your looks, what feature do they praise?
Not exactly praise now.  But that would be my face.  It's a good thing, too, because the rest of me is just way ahead of the face, age-wise.

17 - What hair color do you prefer?
Is this a trick question?  I like my silvery gray hair with black mixed in it.  

18 - If you can change anything about yourself, what is it?
I actually can change something about myself?  Ok, then, I'd be as rich as a Bill Gates!

19 - Can you live without internet?   
If I'm with the kids, yes.

20 - Have you ever experienced being hysterical?
No, even though I joke about it from time to time I only freak out after the fact.  But that's probably what hysterical means, isn't it.  So, then it would be a "yes", N'est Pa?

21 - Did you have an accident last year?
Nope; happily, I haven't tried to "fly" out of anymore flower beds in several years.

22 - What are you thinking right now?
I'm thinking, "Will this thing ever end?".

23 - Have you been hurt so bad that you can’t find words to explain how you feel?
I can always find words.  They might be subject to censure, but I can find words.

24 - Do you have trust issues?
I don't have a trust, and if I did, it would have been all spent by now on the kids and the causes.
Come to think of it, that MIGHT be an issue with a trust.  I hope that's what you meant by trust issues.  
Oh!  No, I don't have issues with trust, either.  I trust everyone until I'm pulling the proverbial Knife out of my back.  Does that say anything about my Gullibility?  LOTS!

25 - Who’s the person who first comes to your mind when someone mentions “love”?
What is this obsession with a single person?  I'm a pack person.  

The whole human race, though they do not know it, or like to admit it, is a single Pack.  God made us this way.  That "still small voice" thing?  It's in every human and every other animal heart on the planet.  "I shall instruct my Ravens to feed you" ?  This is in the Plants, too. Jesus, withering a poor innocent plant that wouldn't bring forth fruit out of season.  Poor thing!

 It's in the planet!  "The very rocks and the stones would cry out"?  The Earth will cry out?  But that's just me.  So, I pick, "My Pack".   After all, a man from Canada leaves home to work in, say, Burundi, and a woman leaves home in Peru, to work in Burundi.  They meet, love and marry and have offspring.  There now are happy people in Peru and Canada who share, and have, new family members!  That's Love!  Sort of fun!  And magical.

26 - Do you believe in the phrase “If it’s meant to be, it will be”?
Not to the extent that people should not take the first boat that comes by to pluck them off a roof in a flood, no.

27 - Do you believe in destiny?
I believe in Karma but I know that there are Karmic Accidents, too.  There's just too many of us for other people to not impact the innocents.  So, I try to be as kind as possible.  It's the only way to be.  Everyone is carrying a burden, they say.  Lending a helping hand is not a bad policy in the long run.

28 - How do you look right now?
Tired  

Image: "Disengaged Employee's" Article From Gallup Inc.

29 - Did you ever feel like you’re not good enough?
 Ha!  I KNOW I'm not good enough.  But that's never stopped me.  A person can always learn.

30 - Favorite city?
I'll take two; they're small:

I love Santa Cruz for a small city where residents are friendly and try to take care of each other in a cruel world.  

SOURCE

And I love San Francisco for it's stunningly beautiful jewel like setting.  And for the Botanical Gardens and Museums.  Go when it isn't crowded, in the Fall when the weather is the best.  It's just the best.  

Travel Light and travel often.  

Saturday 9 That's what friends are for.

To play along with the Saturday9ers, go HERE

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: That's What Friends Are For (1985)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This week's song is performed by an all-star quartet: Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder. You have your choice: which of these four would you most like to see in concert?
What a hard choice to make but if you give me a ticket to Elton John, I'll buy tickets to the others. What a Great line up!

2) Dionne Warwick was Whitney Houston's cousin. Name a Whitney Houston song.
I didn't know that they were cousins.  And the song, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody", is one I'll always be able to hear her sing inside my head.  She was beautiful, with a voice that was powerful and really amazing.

3) Gladys Knight owns a chain of chicken and waffle restaurants around Atlanta. When you have waffles, what do you top them with? (Powdered sugar? Butter? Syrup? Fruit?)
I  liked waffles with butter, strawberries and whipped cream on top.  I used to make waffles with cornmeal in them, and then we put apple sauce and whipped cream on top.  That was very good, too!

4) Elton John has turned his bad eyesight into a hobby, claiming that over the years he has purchased well over than 200,000 pairs of glasses. Do you wear glasses? If so, how many prescription pairs do you own?
I have the normal aging eye prescriptions.  No excitement in that!  I guess, from a woman's perspective, eyeglasses are Elton's "shoes"?  I now have eyeglass envy.  Darn it!
THIS  page is rather fun.  I didn't look at all of it, so be aware.  

5) Stevie Wonder has a scar on his nose from a 1973 car crash. Have you ever been in a car accident?
Yes, but I've answered rather fully before so won't bore you with the gory details yet again.

6) Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager were married when they wrote this. Do you know a husband and wife who work together? 
 Not any more.  Several of the married, and unmarried for that matter, rockhounds did sales together at meets and shows.  We all had so much fun going to Quartzsite and even once to the Tucson shows, the big National Rockhound club meet up in Moab, Utah, and four corners country.   So fun!  

7) This song celebrates friendship through good times and bad. Tell us about a happy time you recently shared with someone close to you.
Right now I'm not sure about what is happy, and what is cheerful.  Cheerful is probably best when the brass tacks start popping through the carpet of life.  I've found that as long as my mind is occupied completely in something funny or cheerful, I get a rest from panic and hysteria.

Source

 So, I darn well keep busy with good stuff.  And I have a little sherry from time to time.  This Meme thing; it's part of the good stuff.  I can't thank the people who put these things together enough.  

But I can try!
Thank you! Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!

8) Now share a time when you were there for a friend through a tough time.
Right after one of the rockhounds died suddenly, I got a panicky call from his poor wife, my friend.  So, I went and spent a night and the next day with her, and took her to the doctor where she found out that her pacemaker had been set too high.  After that she was much better, physically.

9) Random question: When is the last time you were out of breath?
It's so long ago I can't remember it but it was probably sometime when I was still going to the gym, and using the rowing machine.  I loved that thing.  That and machine 72.  How I miss 'em.  My arms however, do not.  My arms remind me quite regularly that what I did in the gym didn't stay in the gym.  It came home and sits on each shoulder like a pair of E.A. Poe Ravens.  

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Friday 5 for April 8: R U A Top dresser?

Friday 5 for April 8: How Do You Do That?

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5!  Please copy these questions to your webspace.  Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses.  Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. When you draw a five-pointed star, which point do you begin with, and where do you go from there?  I always start in the bottom left hand corner, go up to the tip-top point, then back down towards the bottom right hand point, then up toward the left top point, across to star form to the right point tip, and then finish by going down to the left bottom tip. 


2. On a typical day, in what order do you put your clothes on?  Same as when I was little.  Top, pants, and shoes...I'm a top down dresser, I s'pose.

3. When packing for an overnighter, what are you likely to pack too much of?  I've actually never done this.  But on road trips I ALWAYS bring way too many clothes.

4. How particular are you with laundry chores?  Whites and lights, darks, towels (which are almost all white), and I wash when the hampers are full.  The three hampers are lined up in the utility/pantry near the machines.

SOURCE

5. How are your bookshelves organized?
Sewing and handcraft books, are all in the sewing room (third bedroom) except the knitting books and mags, which are all out on a bookshelf by themselves in the Big room, and the Ceramic and jewelry craft books which are in the other end of the Big room with their related mags.   Fiction and Non Fiction are on the big book shelves along the Big room wall. (I don't call it the Great Room because that seems much too grand) for what it is. Cookbooks are in a bookshelf (by themselves) just outside the kitchen entry way.

Thanks for participating, and have a lovely weekend!

If you want to play along with us, there is a link in the sidebar with the rest of the weekly memes.  Come Play?!

Thankful Thursday: Rain!

It's been raining for hours!  Wonderful, and I'm so grateful!!

Images of Rain Collection, Sharon Salzberg

Wordless Wednesday:

Tuesday Tails.... Dog story page, Tort Report, and Wolfie report. Geocaching newbies.

Since I started Tuesday tails, it's been so much fun posting videos of various little and sometimes big tales about animals.  I finally got the mother lode of stories in this one web site.  There are others but they had some IFFY sort of ADs going, offensive even.  But this one doesn't.  I was thrilled to find it this evening.

I present the Funny Dog Stories,

I hope you like it as much as I do.  The side bars on the blog have more animal related stories, and the ads all seem to all be family friendly.

Enjoy!

Wolfie Report:  The Wolf is getting a little older but he's really getting good at the crosswords, giving us clues, telepathically, we presume.  When a word pops into my head, I say, "Thank you, Wolfie!". He just looks up at me with those Big Browns, and goes right back to resting or maybe snoozing.

We have new brown chairs after 25 years and they are wonderfully snuggle worthy.
Mr. Z. took the old ones to the stadium for the big community free cycle.  It was great!
They were still in very good shape but needed a handyman for a few things.

Tort Report:  The babies, Milagro and Dusty, are finally tasting the freedom of the whole back 40.  They are enjoying going in and out of their enclosure.  All the torts are spending Spring, Summer and Fall in the garden this year.

Lucky got a few roses from me a couple of days ago and I snapped his April 2016 portrait.

There was a mystery bug inside one of the roses that the big torts ate but Mr.Z assured me that he shook it out before giving them their roses.

The evening when I found said Bug in the rose, I touched his back with a blade of grass. He did a little beetle style rocking Dance of Annoyance, and I just let him sleep overnight there.  Actually I am not sure if "he" is a he or is a "she".  I'm not sure he/she is a beetle, either.  I'm not even sure if he/she is not the same annoying little bug that's biting holes in the roses.  Oh well, live and let live but I hope a bird got him/her if so.

Make it bigger to see the little fella

To keep from going totally insane, Mr. Z. and I have taken up a new tiny adventuring hobby.  It's called Geocaching.  Chris from Tazzie first introduced me to the concept, but the business of life at the time didn't leave a lot of minutes in the day for hoofing about.  Now we have too much time on our hands so we are doing this fun thing together when we go from point A to point B.  It helps.
And, every once in awhile you find something lovely at the cache.

This teensy little onesie ( an unmatched earring) was there.
Isn't it cute?

Last Foto.

When we were hunting down our location, a lovely spring leaf had fallen into the path.  A person must gather their heart falls wherever they may, Hey, Mates?

G'Day! :-)

Tibetan Meditation Music

I find this very soothing.  There are links to similar offerings from other places, too.

Keep looking up!

  

Sunday Stealing: Why aren't there emoji ponies?

First,  before anything else, to all the Saturday 9ers:
Helene Verin  said, "Build a closet, and the junk will come."
That is a quote taken from an interview of Mz. Verin on, "Small Space, Big Style"

A note to countrydew:  it worked like a charm!  Thank you so much!

April 2, 2016

212 Meme

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of memes from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent memes. You may have heard the expression, “honor amongst thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from this new meme or recently asked questions from a previously featured meme.
Cheers to all of us thieves!!!

Survey 212 Meme

Stolen from: i take surveys


Is your birth year an odd or even number?: Even numbered.  

Which one of your friends is the most outgoing?: non-net friends?  Jim, a Rockhound, and someone who acts like he's my big brother, just teasing me all the time.

Have you eaten any of your favorite foods today?: Yes, chocolate, a pear, and an orange.

When did you last find yourself in an awkward situation?: A couple of days ago I got a call from a DD, who kindly told me my texts were a little overwhelming.  I saw what she meant and stopped it. 

When was the last time you ignored, or went against, someone’s advice?:  I didn't take a doctor's advice when she wanted me to take a new and improved medicine.... again.  That hardly ever happens though.  I'm usually a good patient, and I have a wonderful doctor.

What happened?: I stayed with a medicine that has a three thousand year old record of helping the problem and has no side effects.  That is very BIG in my book!!

How many different towns/cities have you lived in?:  Nine

When was the last time you had Nutella?: I've never had any but it sounds good.  Isn't there something from Australia that is similar?  I think I'd love to try that, too.  It's Vegemite.  Yes, I'd try that and Brown sauce from England, too.  

Who is your favorite character in“The Big Bang Theory”?:  I think I like Amy the best.  She's so bloody patient with that dreidel-headed boyfriend of hers.  No, that's not a typo.  He just reminds me of a square toy that is wobbling out of balance a lot of the time. But when he sits down with her, and they have an intimate talk about his fears and feelings, it's very sweet and tender.  

What are your parents’ middle names?:  I won't even tell you MY middle name.  Is this one of those trick questions that over time, and collation, fill out a complete web-based dossier on a person?  *peeks behind computer for "little man".  It's always a man, isn't it?

Name someone with a sexy sounding voice.: Almost any Baritone opera star qualifies, you know that..

Are your eyes the same color as your sibling’s?:  Yes, but to varying degrees.  Mine are lighter- a cinnamon color- than my sister's or brother's.

How many pets do you have? Would you like any more?: I have five pet California Desert tortoises and darling Wolfie.  I would like two more dogs, a red and white that look like Wolfie, and a howler monkey.

Is there a song you can’t stop listening to atm?:  I can stop listening to any song now that I'm not a teenager anymore.

Is there a song that you’re fed up of hearing?: No.  that's because I know how to turn off any noisy device in the house or car, which is spewing obnoxious musical noise.  The deafening car mounted boomboxes that you get stuck with in traffic are the only form of semi-musical annoyance on the street.  But they aren't songs.  

Did you have a strange or interesting dream last night?:  No, not last night.  

Name 3 things that are in your refrigerator atm.:  Greek Yogurt, carrots, and cranberry juice.  Yummmmm, huh?

Which friend do you confide in most?:  That would be telling.  

What was your most recent reason for smiling?  a text from Gee, with little hearts.  I love hearts.  and ponies but the geniuses who made emojis didn't include them.